When the Snow Melts
by FeelingDreamy
Summary: Pidge was an average Earth Kingdom citizen in the modern age, only to find out that she's the world's new Avatar, and Lotor the Prince of the Northern Water Tribe. When Lord Zarkon threatens Lotor's life in exchange for the Avatar, Lotor sets out to bring her to his father. As the Tribe grows more unstable, Lotor finds himself entranced by the witty Avatar with a sharp tongue.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: 'Sup ~Dreamers! So I got struck with the Cupid of Inspiration on Thanksgiving Day, where I returned home fat and happy after having way too much food at my Aunt Nikki's house with my family to write the first three chapters of whatever this fic is.**

 **I have been hit with the Lotidge train, and it only pains me that this OTP is so underrated, and that it has so little (well-written) fanfictions and fanart.**

 **So here you go biotches.**

 **I don't own anything of Avatar the Last Air Bender, The Legend of Korra, or Voltron – cuz I'd be rolling in it!**

 **Enjoy ~Dreamers! And don't forget to tell me what you think by leaving a much-appreciated Review!**

* * *

 **When the Snow Finally Melts**

* * *

 **-One-**

* * *

 **-Katie-**

 **July 2012**

 **Katie Holt was born in the Earth Kingdom, in a flourishing town on the outskirts of the Capitol. Her mother and father were both Geologists, her older brother Matt taking an interest in Astronomy. Although neither of their parents were Benders themselves, both Katie and Matt had developed a strong affinity for Earth Bending.**

 **Things changed not long after Katie's twelfth birthday.**

 **She had been in their back yard with Matt, sparing in a way that only Earth Bending children knew how: by hurdling varying sized rocks and boulders at one another. Matt, being a few years older than her, was faster, stronger, and more agile, his movements more precise and accurate than her own. He had cornered Katie by the stream that ran behind their house, leaving her with no ammo, at least, none that wasn't underwater, the fluid element disrupting her connection to the Earth as is lapped against her heels. There was nothing dry nearby, not even so much as a pebble to chuck at him.**

" **Give up?" Matt asked triumphantly, levitating two good sized boulders above his head to illustrate exactly how pinned that she was.**

" **You wish!" Katie smirked back, having sensed something in the stream, hopefully a loose rock. Adjusting her stance, she brought both of her arms back, feeling the familiar tug of matter as she willed her element to do her bidding, and hurl itself at her brother. But instead of chucking a rock or two at Matt, Katie had dowsed them both in water.**

 **Katie looked at Matt, who had dropped both of his boulders in disbelief. Both siblings checked the sky. Not a cloud in sight, and there was no waterfall nearby either.**

 **Holy shit.**

 **Avatar Korra had passed away…around the time that Katie was born. The search for the new Avatar…was over.**

 **Matt had run up to Katie, yelling with excitement and picking his little sister up in his arms, twirling her around proudly. Once the initial shock had passed, Katie found herself smiling, too. Several failed attempts later, and both siblings were soaked to the bone, tearing through their home sopping wet, ignoring their mother's scolding as they brought their parents the news, Katie providing a clumsy demonstration as proof.**

 **Initially, Katie's parents had been so amazed, smiling with pride and awe with what their little girl was capable of. However, once the immediate shock had passed, Matt and Katie's parents turned serious. They warned Katie that there were plenty of people out there who would eagerly seek to use the Avatar for their own means. For political gain. For war. To threaten other citizens to do their bidding, both Benders and Non-Benders alike, with her elemental prowess.**

 **Katie's parents warned her that the members of the White Lotus would likely whisk her away, only to drag her across the world from mentor to mentor, always watched over, but never truly free. As none of these options appealed to them, the Holt family made a unanimous decision to keep Katie's Bending a secret from the world, even pulling her from public school to teach her at home. They were determined to keep Katie's identity a secret from the world for as long as they could, at least until she was old enough to handle the pressure.**

 **Everyone knew the bleakness that had defined Avatar Korra's life. Like Katie, Avatar Korra had debuted into the world at a young age, and both it and she were never the same as a result. She had been so full of hope and innocence, looking at the world through shining, optimistic eyes. And honestly, who could blame her for her naivety?**

 **Others had taken hold of her, broken her mind and her body in every way possible. It was only through her lover Asami that Korra was able to find some semblance of solace, though Korra was possibly only ever able to find true peace after her death in 2000.**

 **Katie remembered watching old footage of Avater Korra in school, as her Social Studies class studied the history of the Avatar, Korra being the only filmed with the invention of the motion picture. Katie had seen the first shots of Lorra, so full of life and energy, all too soon deteriorating into someone for a time rendered incapable of walking or taking care of herself without aid. Every fight, every encounter, every enemy had taken their toll on her, and that didn't even include all of the Spiritual stuff Korra had gone through on her own as the Avatar.**

 **Soon, Katie began to regret discovering that she was the new Avatar.**

 **It was her brother Matt who had kept her going. At night, once the moon had risen to its highest, he would gently nudge Katie awake to practice her Water Bending.**

* * *

 **October 2012**

 **It was around this time that Katie had begun to Fire Bend, both she and Matt nearly losing their eyebrows during her first attempt at literally playing with fire. They had experimented with a bonfire they made out back during a cloudless day, the Sun overhead.**

* * *

 **April 2014**

 **It was right after Katie had turned fourteen that she first Air Bended. Despite two years attempting to create whirl winds and gusts of air, Katie found that she was unable to Air Bend at all.**

 **Until she fell out of the huge oak tree in their backyard, nearly plummeting four stories to her death.**

 **She had attempted to Water Bend to break her fall, hoping to use the water from the stream in their yard. But her Water Bending was still mediocre at best, the liquid too far away to come to her aid in time. Instead, Katie flapped her arms wildly in terror, somehow creating a small vortex of wind beneath her to cushion her fall.**

 **Matt, who had watched the entire scene play out in horror from their living room window, had dubbed Katie with the nickname Pidge henceforth.**

 **The name stuck.**

* * *

 **-Lotor-**

 **January 2014**

 **Lotor was the Prince of the Norther Water Tribe. He was seventeen when his father, Tribe Leader Zarkon, had asked him to kill for the first time.**

 **Lord Zarkon was power hungry in every sense of the word. He was politically ruthless, and cruel in all aspects of life. Zarkon had long been vocal about wanting their Sister Tribe in the South to submit to the North once more. He had been pressuring the Southern Water Tribe with a show of arms for years, never completely dominating the South Pole, instead silencing innocents and individuals unfortunate enough to cross him.**

 **His son, Prince Lotor, cared little for his father's needless conquest for power, seeking instead to form and strengthen alliances with other nations through negotiation wherever possible, blackmail only if he had to. As Prince of the Northern Water Tribe, Lotor had honed his skills training with some of the greatest Water Bending masters in the world. Not only was Lotor skilled with his words, but with his Bending, as well as the sword. No one dared to contend with him on either of those playing fields, both in verbal debates nor in combat of any sort, and expect to walk away unscathed, if Lotor was feeling gracious enough to let them walk away at all.**

 **Lotor was many things, but he was not his father. The Prince had his own plans for the Northern Tribe, as well as for the world. All in good time.**

 **However, things took a turn for the worse after his father challenged Lotor to a duel. The argument had came about as they bickered on how to deal with a certain political figure, one who had been disturbing the black market of the Water Tribe's underworld. Their duel had taken place a night the moon had been at its fullest, Zarkon lying through his teeth as he promised his son a clean match. But Lotor had known better, dreadful of whatever was about to transpire, as he had readied his stance, in attempt to prepare for the unthinkable.**

 **And then Zarkon had Blood Bent him.**

 **Lotor recalled all to vividly the sensation of being choked by his own blood, limbs contorted uselessly at awkward angles as his muscles painfully betrayed him. All the Prince could do was scream in fear and agony, pathetically begging his father for mercy, pride be damned. Lotor remembered the coldness in his father's gaze as he had tortured his son. Unfeeling. Uncaring. Bored, as if he were deciding what animal skin coat he would wear later.**

 **Zarkon's next words were hazy, as Lotor began to lose consciousness, but they had been clear enough.**

" **I will not tolerate any form of weakness from you, or anyone else. A son who refuses to kill when told to do so is no son of mine. If the underworld boss is not dead by dawn tomorrow, then you will be," Zarkon had warned, before finally, finally, releasing Lotor's abused blood vessels from his influence.**

 **Lotor, who had been suspended helplessly in the air as his father had levitated him by his own blood, had dropped to the ground, gasping. Lotor fought back the bile that had risen in his throat, as the sickening sound of his blood squelching in his vessels reached his ears, heart pounding rapidly, as the muscle fought to return his blood pressure to its natural rhythm.**

 **The next day, Zarkon awoke to the head of the man he had commanded Lotor to kill at his doorstep. From that day onwards, Lotor bent to his father's will, training hard his mind and body day after day, eventually discovering on his own that he, too, was a Blood Bender.**

 **But unlike Zarkon, Lotor did not need a full moon.**

 **Lotor had jumped his father in his sleep, not wanting to kill him, that would have been all too obvious. He did, however cause enough internal damage – particularly to Zarkon's brain – to knock the monster into a deep coma. Lotor ruled the Northern Water Tribe alongside his mother, Haggar, until he was twenty, while the Witch fought to keep her deranged husband with help form some of the best Healers in the Tribe.**

* * *

 **September 2016**

 **During his short reign, Lotor surrounded himself with those he could trust, and was able to unite the Northern and Southern Water Tribe once more. He allowed for the Southern Tribe to retain a fair amount of its hard-fought independence, his only requirement being that the two nations coordinate as allies should times of war come knocking at their front doors.**

 **Lotor did not dare tell a soul about practically rendering his father a vegetable, especially not his poor mother, who was already long passed help. Lotor had stayed by her side, consoled her, even as he beauty deteriorated into madness, driven by her incessant need to revive her beloved husband Zarkon and return the tyrant to the throne.**

 **And one fateful day, the Witch had succeeded.**

 **The first thing Zarkon had enacted upon his miraculous, cursed return was attempt to murder Prince Lotor – not because he had remembered that it was his son who had attempted to kill him, but because he was just that bloodthirsty, and Lotor had been standing too close. The only reason Lotor had so mercifully been sentenced to Exile was due to Haggar's influence. Lotor had been sent to the Boiling Rock, the infamous prison no one had broken out of since Fire Lord Zuko's youth.**

* * *

 **March 2017**

 **After six long months in Maximum Security, Lotor was released, his Exile kept a secret from the public.**

 **And upon returning home to the Northern Water Tribe, Zarkon had threatened to have Lotor killed. Talk about a warm welcome.**

 **Hoping to regain at least a fraction of his father's trust, at least enough he would stop with the death threats and attempts on his life for a spell, Lotor pleaded with Zarkon, feigning innocence and sincerity, asking how he could earn his father's favor. Luckily for Lotor, the trauma to his father's brain left him with no memory of their little encounter four years prior, else Lotor would doubtfully still be breathing.**

 **Zarkon had laughed menacingly at Lotor's pitiful display, completely fooled by his false display of fear.**

" **You are a failure to me in every way, Spawn. If you truly seek to please me, then bring me the Avatar," Zarkon had offered seriously.**

 **Lotor's eyes widened in surprise, and he raised his head from his bow, as he tried to appear genuinely respectful of his father.**

" **But Father! The Avatar has not yet been discovered. If he or she is out there, than they are likely too young to know of their elemental affinities. Forgive me, my Lord, but I fear you ask me for the impossible." Had Zarkon truly lost his mind?**

" **I was not asking you, Spawn."**

 **Lotor's lips formed a thin line, but her bowed again anyway, fist over his heart, before being dismissed by Haggar.**

* * *

 **June 2017**

 **Three months later, his Generals had burst into Lotor's quarters, unannounced. He had been sparring in the large room just off his sleeping chambers, which had been converted into his own personal gym, so that he could train whenever he pleased, without being disrupted.**

" **Enter," Lotor allowed, finding the disturbance, however unwelcome, more than a little worrying, as each of his Generals knew better than to interrupt his training for any reason short of urgent. Upon questioning them as to the nature of their visit, Axca wordlessly presented Lotor with a tablet. Lotor took the device, eyebrows raised skeptically, as he silently waited for an explanation.**

" **The video you're about to watch was streamed live just an hour ago," Axca began.**

" **And what of it?" Lotor asked as he eyed the triangular play icon.**

 **Axca saluted him, a fist over her chest.**

 **"The Avatar, my Lord."**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: 'Sup ~Dreamers! How you eight measly ppl enjoying this unplanned disaster? I'm going a bit plot heavy for the first few chapters to introduce the characters and do a little world building, so if you could bear with me for a little bit, I assure you the pay off will be worth it!**

 **;D Lemons to come, this shit's rated M for a reason, bitches. (hopefully sooner rather than later!), but I'm trying to build up to it, to get ya'll more immersed in the story as Pidge and Lotor warm up to each other little by little. I've already got up to chapter four written, I just gotta type it up and post it after some minor editing. I'm old fashioned, I like pencil and paper (as my first draft of this was deleted accidentally).**

 **Enjoy guys!**

* * *

 **When the Snow Melts**

 **-Two-**

 **It had all been an accident, really. Matt had sprained his ankle, conveniently before the team's biggest Pro-Bending match of the entire season. Katie had volunteered to stand in for him, to act as the team's Earth Bender. So long as she only did Earth Bending, her secret would be safe.**

 **Well, easier said than done.**

 **Matt had personally helped Pidge into his protective gear, adjusting the velcro to her much smaller specs. After tying back her hair, a shade that simply refused to make up its mind and be either a dirty blond or a light brown, Pidge pulled her now captured locks through the top of her headgear, ready for action.**

 **At seventeen years old, Pidge had more than mastered Earth Bending, and having a professional Pro-Bending brother had its perks. In the decades since Air Benders had repopulated the Earth post Avatar Korra's time, the element had eventually been integrated into the Pro-Bending sport. However, Pidge had never once fought against an Air Bender before, as they were still a bit of a rarity, the least popular of the other Four major elements. Pidge had fought mock battles with people wielding the other three elements, but the opportunity to fight an Air Bender hadn't come. Especially with their whole peace and enlightenment crap, most were total hippies.**

 **Earth, Water, and Fire, Pidge knew how to deal with, but fighting against an Air Bender had been different. There was a foreign fluidity of their ghost-like movements as they danced across the Arena, impossibly light on their feet. The Air Bender on the opposing team had sensed Pidge's inexperience, strategically singling her out and targeting her.**

 **When the game had been forced into overtime, Pidge had been nominated by the members of her team to fight in the coin toss, in a one-on-one winner-take-all battle. The other team had chosen their Air Bender as her opponent, because of course they had. She groaned audibly when the Air Bender had won the coin toss, granting him the first strike.**

 **With a roll of her shoulders and an audile crack in her neck, Pidge readied her stance, bringing her fists up to protect her face. After a long few seconds of suspense, the loud ring of the bell signaled the start of the match, two minutes on the clock. The Air Bender began their graceful onslaught.**

 **But Pidge was a fast learner.**

 **After taking a beating for the first sixty seconds of the match, Pidge had analyzed the Bender's movements. Before each strike, each punch and gust of air, there was always a step forward. A delay, a hesitation. Pidge went on the offensive, and soon she had turned the tables on her opponent, eventually knocking them off the stage and into the drink with one powerful motion of her arms.**

 **The crowd went wild, cheering her name as she and her brother's team were lead to the podiums placed in the center of the Arena, all four of them taking their fist place spot in the center. Their opponent's team stood on the lower podium to their right, in second place.**

 **But the Air Bender had been a sore loser.**

 **In a blind rage, the Air Bender had created a small tornado of wind beneath Katie, forcibly lifting her into the air, before the brute sent her careening over the side of the Arena's stage. The water below had been drained when the game had ended, and Pidge had removed a fair amount of her gear, including her padded helmet, falsely thinking she wouldn't need them anymore. There was nothing to cushion her fall, apart from her padded chest plate she had yet to unstrap from her person.**

 **Matt, who had been watching from the player's booth a few stories above, rose to his feet in horror, too far to be of any use. He was helpless, and could only watch as his sister plummeted from the stage.**

 **In her panic, Pidge's mind had flashed to the time she had fallen from the tree in their backyard, not long after she had discovered she was the Avatar. And then, suddenly, Pidge found that she was floating, her body seeming to move of its own accord. Her vision briefly went white, and the next thing Pidge knew, she was safely on the ground.**

 **And today in the Arena, it happened a second time.**

 **All was quiet for a breath, as the world processed what exactly had just happened, but it was clear to all just who she was now.**

 **Katie Holt was not simply a stand-in Pro-Bender. She was also the next Avatar, and now the entire world knew it.**

 **Everything seemed to happen in a blur after that. Pidge's body had reacted faster than she had, and soon her legs were carrying her out of the Arena, and into the chilly Autumn air, discarding the rest of her gear as she fled. It had been around sunset when she had arrived at the stadium with Matt, and over the course of the game, night had fallen, the first stars beginning to peek through the darkening violet of the atmosphere above them. Who knew that today would mark her last day of her freedom?**

 **Matt had met her outside, adrenaline temporarily allowing him to ignore the pain in his ankle, helping Katie get home before the Press could find out where she lived. The personal information of the Players was supposed to remain private, but both she and Matt knew it was only a matter of time before the home address of the Avatar was leaked to the highest bidder. They needed to hurry.**

" **This is all my fault!" Matt yelled angrily, slamming things around as he helped his sister stuff her backpack with clothes and other essentials. "If only I hadn't busted my stupid ankle…if only I didn't make you stand in for me! Damnit!"**

" **Uh-uh. Nope. No. We're not doing this. We're not playing the guilt game," Katie snapped, her own anxiety feeding off of her brothers, voice shaking as she kept packing, praying that the movement alone would hold back the tears. "How were either of us supposed to know what a psycho that Air Bending guy was?! I did everything right! I only used my Earth Bending the entire game. If not for him sending me to what easily could've been my abrupt demise, I wouldn't have gone all Avatar Ang on the crowd!"**

" **Your eyes were glowing, Katie," Matt stated quietly, his voice falling to a whisper, as if some part of him hadn't fully believed his little sister was the Avatar, despite seeing her affinities for the other elements. That part of him had died tonight.**

" **They did?" Katie asked, eyes widening in wonder. "Well, I can re-watch it later, I'm sure it's online by now."**

" **So what now? You're just gonna skip town and lay low?" Matt asked, though still he continued to help her pack. "What about Grandma's? Or maybe-"**

" **No. Soon they'll find out where I live. They already know my name. It won't take long for them to trace down all of our relatives," Pidge cut him off.**

" **You are** _ **not**_ **sleeping on the street!" Matt argued, suddenly feeling all overprotective of his baby sister. Even though Katie was seventeen now, and could more or less take care of herself, Matt couldn't help but worry about her, remembering how clingy she had been to her big brother as a toddler.**

" **I've camped outside before!" Pidge countered, before grabbing her toothbrush and some toothpaste, as well as a bar of soap from her bathroom, before stuffing each into separate plastic ziplocks, and chucking said items into the small front pocket of her backpack.**

" **That was in a tent Dad pitched in our backyard! I was twelve and you were only, like, seven!" Matt reminded her.**

" **Same diff," Pidge waved him off. It was then that her phone rang. It was their Mom. Both siblings cringed, knowing that their mother had likely seen the news.**

" **You gonna answer that?" Matt asked her on the third ring.**

" **I can't face her right now," was all Katie said. I'll call her back later. Oh crap! My phone charger!"**

" **Katie," Matt said knowingly, taking his sister by the shoulders and forcing her to be still for a second so that she could face him. He knew the stresses of the last hour were getting to her, and that Katie was likely suppressing a panic attack. "It's gonna be okay," he said with far more certainty than he felt, hoping that at least his words had comforted her.**

 **Katie let out a shaky breath she hadn't been aware she was holding. She nodded, traitor tears at last spilling down her pale cheeks, betraying the tough front she had been putting up.**

" **~Matt!" she cried, hugging her brother tightly and whimpering into his chest.**

" **Where can I even go?"**

" **I-I don't know," Matt told her, mind racing as he tried to recall every friend that he could possibly be capable enough to deal with their current situation.**

 **Then, like lightning, a thought struck him.**

 **Whipping out his own smart phone, matt searched his contacts, hoping to find who he was looking for, and praying that said acquaintance hadn't changed numbers since they had last spoken. He dialed.**

" **Who are you calling?" Katie asked, panic attack fading as she was able to breathe a little easier.**

" **I'm calling Shiro," was all Matt told her before the call was answered.**

* * *

 **After explaining their entire situation to Shiro in practically one breath, all of them both he and Matt agreed to let Katie stay at Shiro's, at least until things either calmed down or they figured out something else to do. Shiro was an old friend from Matt's college days, one he talked about often, but whom Pidge had never personally met.**

" **You don't think it'll be weird, sending your sister to go stay with some friend of yours all out of the blue?" Pidge questioned skeptically.**

" **I wouldn't consider it if I didn't trust him," Matt told her seriously. "This one time, during freshman year when I was taking night classes, I got jumped by three Benders, two Fire Benders and a Water Bender. And Shiro was just, there. He didn't even know me, and he threw himself in between me and a fireball, literally. Shiro's the type of person who stands up for the little guy, because it's just the right thing to do. For real, Pidge, he wouldn't hurt a fly." It was then that Matt pulled up a map of the area on his tablet. "Okay, so the Earth Kingdom capitol is North of us. There are towns to our East and West, but a forest to our South. Shiro lives in a log cabin, on the edges of the forest and the next town. Its super secluded, real remote," Matt explained.**

" **But I thought that forest was full of Spirits?" Pidge asked warily, remembering what happened in that one Hayao Miyazaki movie. Pidge cringed, not wanting to be Spirited Away herself.**

" **Katie, animals love you, I'm sure the Spirits will, too. As long as you respect them and their forest, they should keep their distance," Matt assured her.**

" **But Spirits and Animals are not the same thing!" Pidge argued. "And it's freezing outside! Isn't it supposed to snow sometime tonight?"**

" **Hang on just a tick," Matt told her, before limping painfully down the hall to his own room, and tearing through his closet. "There it is!" he exclaimed after a moment, finding what he wanted. Producing a white and green hoodie, Matt chucked it at Katie. "This'll keep you warm. I built heating pads into the seams. The temperature switch is on the left sleeve."**

 **Pidge pulled it on over what she was already wearing, which was more or less a tight black Pro-Bending jumpsuit, and some worn old boots. She tested the heating pads. Glorious.**

" **Alright, now let me just get myself ready and we can bounce," Matt began, before stumbling into a nearby wall, adrenaline finally fading as the pain in his ankle returned in full force.**

" **No way. You're not about to go hiking through some enchanted forest with me with that leg," Katie told him firmly, helping him over to sit on the edge of his bed as she attempted to soothe his swollen ankle with what little healing she had managed to teach herself Water Bending.**

" **But-!"**

" **No buts!" Pidge snapped. "Besides, someone should stay behind to fill Mom and Dad in on everything when they get home from work."**

 **Matt groaned, but complied, falling back onto his bed in defeat, knowing that he would only slow her down in his current state. "…Fine," he conceded after a long moment.**

" **Text me a screenshot of that map from your tablet so that I've got it on my phone."**

* * *

" **So the Avatar is just a little girl," Prince Lotor mused over a glass of red wine, sitting aboard his private jet as he studied the digitally enhanced images of Katelyn Holt's face on his tablet. He had watched and re-watched the viral video of the girl bending several times already, memorizing her fighting style, and her form.**

 **She was almost impossibly short, and Lotor did a double take when her Pro-Bending stats revealed she was only five feet tall. At seventeen, the pale skinned girl was almost a woman, though any figure she may possess had been hidden by the pads of her Bending Gear. Her golden hair had some length, pulled back messily, as if she hadn't had enough time to straighten it out, or hadn't cared enough to. The girl's eyes were a lovely peridot green, a trademark shade of most Earth Benders. Lotor noted her hesitation in battle, chalking it up to her inexperience dealing with the Air Bender, as she had shown ferocity when combatting the other players.**

 **Lotor wondered vaguely what the Avatar was like in person.**

 **He had not expected to locate the Avatar mere weeks after his father had given the order to locate them, the entire fiasco in the Arena a stroke of luck. Lotor had been devising several plans to assassinate his father in the meantime, but with the identity of the Avatar revealed, such plans could be placed on hold, perfected, at least for the time being. If introducing the Avatar to Tribe Leader Zarkon as an ally would even temporarily sate his father's greed, then Prince Lotor would serve the girl up to him on a silver platter.**

 **He just needed to find her.**

* * *

 **(Please Review and tell me what you think guys!)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: 'Sup fellow _~Dreamers_! So here is chapter three of this fic. I hope ya'll like it. I've got up to chapter five written in my notebook (I write a lot faster than I type, lol) I just wanted to take a few days to clean things up and edit a little before posting anything. I don't really have a goal for how long this fic will be, but prepare for a long ride, cuz I'm in this for the long haul!**

 **I own nothing of Voltron or Avatar.**

 **Enjoy guys!**

* * *

 **When the Snow Melts**

 **-3-**

 **Pidge's GPS told her that she was about halfway to Shiro's. Five-ish miles down, five-ish miles to go. Okay, scratch that, more like six.**

 **The flashlight Matt had given her had died sometime after the first mile or so, leaving Pidge with only the weak light from her cell phone. In the dark of the mountainous terrain, Pidge stumbled clumsily, tripping over tree roots as she scaled steep slopes and climbed boulders. Her head snapped up at every sound, at every hoot from an owl-hawk, and every howl of Autumn wind. Pidge had always been more tech-savvy than when confronted with nature, ironic when considering her native element. Her allergies and pale skin typically keeping her inside, unless she was practicing her Bending outside with Matt.**

 **Pidge had dreamed of one day developing software for the Galaxy Garrison's Space Program, having always been fascinated by the stars, and knowing that putting a man on Mars would undoubtedly happen in her lifetime. She wanted nothing more than to play her part in it.**

 **Pidge's dream never felt so far away.**

 **If she got accepted into an ivy league university, would it be through her own power, or because someone pulled a few strings hoping to get something by helping the Avatar?**

 **When she had reached the three-quarter mark to Shiro's, it was nearly two in the morning, and Pidge needed a break. Stopping by a stream for a break, she dug around in her bag to find her water bottle, perching atop a boulder overlooking the forest's winding river. After taking a few deep breaths to steady herself, Pidge created a tiny puff of fire, the small flame blooming just a few inches above the skin of her hands. Having burned herself once before with fire – she still had a few scars on the back of her neck, though they were hardly noticeable – Pidge was always extra cautious when it came to Fire Bending, hesitant. She used her flame to warm the water of her metal furnace, the liquid burning her throat on the way down, Pidge never handled hot foods well, usually waiting until things were just higher than room temperature before attempting to eat anything. Pidge poured out the remaining contents, before capping her furnace, and chucking in her bag. Rising, she checked her GPS once more, before setting out again.**

 **Still fairly terrified, Pidge couldn't help but find the forest really pretty. Some of the trees glowed green, their moss producing fluorescent algae-bacteria stuff. She knew more about rocks, and less about fungus, and Pidge made a mental note to study up on it. The Moon was out and full and huge, casting a beautiful silver glow upon the already-glowing trees whenever it peeked out from behind the clouds, making them sparkle like lightning bugs in the summer.**

 **Pidge had seen few animals, who were likely hibernating, hiding in their little burrows and caves from the cold. She had seen even fewer Spirits, the handful she caught glimpses of keeping their distance, which was just fine with her. The last thing her nerves needed right now was for some Spirit to get her lost. Right now, she just needed to get to Shiro's-**

 **And suddenly there were eyes, dozens of glowing eyes, floating in a cave off to her left. Pidge jumped backwards, holding her backpack in front of her defensively.**

" **S-Stay back! I'm just passing through, I swear!" she stuttered fearfully, legs buckling despite her attempts to look unafraid.**

 **And then one of the glowing eyes floated out of the cave, revealing an adorable green puffball Pidge could only describe as a gerbille-mouse, though its ears were hidden under its fur. But gerbille-mice didn't float. Or have adorable glowing mustaches. The sole green Spirit brace enough to approach her was followed by several others in varying shades of pastel.**

" **Aww! You guys are so cute!" pidge cooed, setting down her bad and offering her hand to the bravest one. "Too cute to be in a forest as scary as this one." She went on to explain that she was on the way to Shiro's place, a friend of her brothers, doubting that they could understand her, but finding the one-sided dialogue somewhat comforting, the forest too quiet.**

 **In response to her nervous ramblings, the creatures blinked the lights of their glowing mustaches, as if they understood what she was saying to at least some degree. They followed Pidge as she continued through the forest to Shiro's, some floating along beside her, a few even resting on her head, even her shoulders.**

* * *

 **-Lotor-**

 **His private jet had landed in the Earth Kingdom's Capitol, he and his Generals taking two separate luxury Satomobiles to make the short journey to the next town over, to the Avatar's residence. The five of them could track her from there. All of them had discarded their Arctic attire, instead donning casual Earth Kingdom apparel, wanting to keep a low profile with all the press about.**

 **Both Prince Lotor and his Generals sported the darkened skin known to the Water Tribe, but as those of the Earth Kingdom typically tanned easily enough, little would give them away. Lotor's snowy locks had been tucked away into a hat, the white trait passed down to him by his mother, though current fashion trends made his odd shade of silver look dyed, bleached of its pigment.**

 **The Avatar's home had been positively crawling with paparazzi and formal media, none seeming to know of her whereabouts.**

" **Axca, pull up a map of the area," Lotor commanded, still eyeing the girl's home just beyond the tinted window of his black car. "It's unlikely the Avatar and her family checked into a hotel, as someone would have likely reported a sighting by now."**

" **Yes, Sir. One moment," Axca replied obediently. Lotor's gaze was drawn to the large expanse of woods after viewing the image Axca had sent to his tablet. He had noted the forest from the sky as they were landing in the Capitol. "Head to the town just south of here," Lotor instructed. "We'll corner the Avatar as she makes her way out of the forest."**

* * *

 **-Katie-**

 **The deep violet blue of the morning greeted Pidge as she exited the forest, dawn yet to appear as the sight of the weather-worn, log cabin came into view. Fifteen quiznacking miles of hiking and slipping over hidden patches of black ice, and Pidge had finally arrived, her new furry friends in tow. Her phone was at three percent, literally just made it. There was a light on in the cabin, the shadow of a man in a recliner visible through the window of what looked like a living room. Shiro must have been up all night waiting for her to show up. Trudging heavily up the wooden stairs of the porch in an attempt to brush off as much snow as possible, Pidge made her way to the door, before knocking three times, her skinny fingers long gone numb with what was likely the beginnings of frostbite. The Hulk-like figure of a man with black hair and white bangs soon appeared at the door, a long scar trailing across the bridge of his nose.**

" **Um…hi?" Pidge said meekly, suddenly feeling wildly out of place, showing up on the doorstep of a man she had never met in the middle of the night. "Uh, are you Shiro?"**

" **Yes. I take it you're Katie?" Shiro confirmed, stepping aside as he gestured for her to come in. Pidge nodded, shivering violently, before practically running to the fireplace, barely remembering to shrug off her muddy green and orange boots. Shiro didn't bat an eye at her furry floating friends, and instead got to work making her comfortable. Disappearing momentarily to some unknown room, Shiro returned with a freshly lined pillow, and a fluffy blanket made of faux, silky fur (the tag on the corner of the blanket said so). Her clothes soaked with melted ice and snow, Pidge wandered into the bathroom to change, reappearing in a green lion hoodie with matching sweat pants and socks. Collapsing onto the couch in Shiro's living room, Pidge crawled under the wonderful blanket, her shivering beginning to subside. Shiro fixed her a mug of hot chocolate, the perfect temperature, still steaming but ready to drink. Keeping up light conversation with Shiro, Pidge downed the cocoa. She was out within minutes.**

 **Pidge woke later that afternoon, her new fluffy friends resting atop her in a pile. Some snoozed soundly, their tiny snores a series of little chirpy squeaks as they exhaled, others watching her with their adorably huge eyes. The green one that had favored her crawled onto Pidge's forehead, looking down at her as if to verify that she was awake. It chirped happily when she made eye contact with it.**

" **Well good morning to you, too," Pidge greeted, reaching up to pet it affectionately, her movements stirring the rest of them awake.**

" **They've really taken a shine to you," Shiro called from the kitchen, and it was then that Pidge noticed the amazing aroma that filled the cabin.**

" **Morning," Pidge greeted, stretching, before shuffling into the kitchen herself. "Are you making pancakes or something?"**

" **Close, French toast," Shiro answered. "I hope that's alright."**

" **French toast** **is more than alright. French toast is life. I love the French. They know how to bake," Pidge illustrated animatedly, before her eyes processed what they were seeing. "Holy shit, are you wearing a frilly pink apron?!" She fought back a laugh as she took in the offending lace of the garment, Shiro blushing adorably, looking away from her in hopes of preserving at least some of his masculinity.**

" **It was a gag gift from some friends of mine last Christmas," Shiro explained, coughing in attempt to hide his blush, fighting to compose himself. "Ever since I moved out her, I keep finding myself in the kitchen. The apron is pink because my so-called friends are their own levels of immature."**

" **And you still wear it?" Pidge questioned, still smiling, before taking a seat at the table.**

" **An apron is still an apron," Shiro defended, but even as he said this, he was hanging the piece of cloth on the back of a chair.**

" **There's nothing wrong with men who wear pink. I just kinda pegged you as the military/bodybuilder type, so I wasn't expecting the lace," Pidge told him firmly. "I identify as a girl, but that doesn't mean I have to wear dresses all the time. Not that I mind dresses or looking feminine, but being on point with complicated hair, makeup, outfits, and nails all the time to meet the archaic social standards society places on women is tiring. I just prefer to be comfortable."**

" **That's…an interesting point of view," Shiro smiled warmly. "Watermelon juice?"**

" **I'd love some," Pidge smiled gratefully.**

 **It was as they were eating that Shiro finally addressed their current situation. "So what now? Its not like you can hide from the world forever."**

"… **I realize that, but how am I gonna figure out who to trust?" Pidge wondered, her voice barely audible. "If I meet someone for the first time, then how will I know that they like me for me, and not because I'm the Avatar?"**

" **That's something you'll have to decide for yourself," Shiro told her firmly, yet gently. "How did you go about making friends before you found out you were the Avatar?" he inquired.**

" **I just…I trusted them until they gave me a reason not to," Pidge answered him honestly. "I was always bullied for being the smartest kid in my classes, so I didn't have many friends. If one person was civil to me, I'd run home and tell my parents about it like we were best friends," Pidge's eyes looked sad as she recalled the memories. "…When I found out I was the Avatar, my family and I decided to pull me out of school. Matt couldn't have any friends over himself, on the off chance I accidentally Bended an element other than just Earth, and he hated going out because he knew I'd get lonely. So…I'm not really good with meeting new people…"**

" **Well, you'll certainly be meeting plenty of new people now that the world knows that you're the Avatar. I'm sure at least a few of those people will turn out to be friends worth keeping," Shiro informed her, trying to sound encouraging.**

 **Pidge looked up at him from across the table, forcing a smile to her lips she didn't quite feel.**

" **Yeah, you're probably right."**

* * *

 **-Lotor-**

 **The Prince and his Generals sat in the dry warmth of their cars, parked just on the outskirts of the cabin as they listened to the feed from their cameras they had strategically placed throughout the windowpanes of the wooden home.**

" **So the Avatar is afraid of making friends," Lotor mused aloud, hand at his chin, deep in thought. "How cute."**

" **What are your orders, My Lord?" Zethrid asked him over the radio, sitting in the second car just a few yards out from where Lotor's was perched on a dirt cliff, overlooking the living room of the cabin.**

" **Now, we wait," Lotor told them. "Let the girl return to her home. Let the press, media, and paparazzi tear her apart, reveal all of her secrets, and use her for their own gains. When the Avatar has reached her breaking point, I'll appear to lend her an ear to vent to, and provide her with a shoulder to cry on," Lotor smiled deviously. "Once I have earned her trust, I'll invite the Avatar to the Northern Water Tribe, and deliver her to my father."**

 **But even as he laid out his plans, an uncomfortable feeling tugged at his chest, as they watched the girl innocently play with the Spirits that hovered about her tiny form.**

* * *

 **Please Review _~Dreamers_! (that's what i call my beloved readers btw) How am I doing so far?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: 'Sup ~Dreamers! Sorry for the late-ish update! More to come sooner-ish!**

* * *

 **When the Snow Melts**

 **-4-**

* * *

 **Everything had come to pass just as prince Lotor had predicted.**

 **The media had been so relentless that both the Avatar and her family had practically moved in with the man called Shirogane, the cabin remote and unsuspecting. But surely the family would have to venture into town at some point, unless they planned to live off the land and hunt. When they did, they would be recognized, and the paparazzi would soon follow. Lotor was even tempted to leak the information himself to speed things along, but opted not to, gathering intel on the Holt family while he alone knew of their whereabouts.**

 **In the week since setting up their mics and surveillance cameras, Lotor had learned much about the Holt family. He learned that Mr. and Mrs. Holt were polar opposites, Samuel doing whatever he could to get a rise out of his wife whenever possible, just to see her reactions. When they weren't flirting, Samuel helped Shiro maintain the house, while Colleen had taken to the dishes and the laundry.**

 **The Avatar's brother, Matthew Holt, was much like his father, always teasing his sister. The boy had gone to university with Shirogane, and had apparently been close enough for the grey-haired young man to be among the first to contact following the Pro-Bending ordeal. Shirogane had welcomed the family warmly, only ever becoming annoyed when his younger friend took jokes a tad too far. Both Shirogane and Matt were wildly overprotective of Katelyn, who for some reason had been dubbed "Pidge" by her family, though her mother Colleen often opted to call her Katie more than anything else.**

 **The Avatar was as brilliant as she was reckless, and as brutish bending as she was gentle. Through her window, he watched her take apart a spare lamp that looked ancient, having pulled it out of a closet, before reconfiguring it into a flashlight, later returning it to its original form. No one would be the wiser for it, though the feat seemed to do little to ease her boredom, her family demanding she stay inside on the off chance a passerby or hiker would recognize her.**

 **But the Avatar was an adventurous spirit, often sneaking onto the roof from the window of her second floor's guest room to star gaze with her elder brother, her plethora of levitating friends in tow wherever she went. She was witty and energetic, always in want of getting the last word in an argument, no matter how petty. She was competitive, and her sharp tongue was as shocking as it was refreshing.**

 **If asked why he watched her so intently, he would simply affirm that he was merely gathering more intel. Nothing more.**

* * *

 **A few short weeks later, the Avatar released a post on her social media page, one created specifically for the media.**

 **In said blog, she had stated that it was the Avatar's duty to help others, to maintain the peace and act as a Bridge to the Spirit Realm.**

 **Katelyn admitted that she did not currently feel ready for such a burden, revealing that the only formal elemental instruction she had ever received was in her native element, Earth. The girl stated that she was open to any invitations that would expand her knowledge and skills in the other three elements. The Avatar claimed to be up to date in current world events, but conditioned that before tackling any major political issues, she would like to hone her elemental arts, before eventually presenting herself to meet with world leaders. Not only did she intend to meet with "the people up top," but also with their people as well.**

 **The Avatar ended the post after promising an appearance at the City Hall of her home city a week from the time of the post at noon, inviting all those who wished to meet with her. She hoped that a week would give those concerned enough notice should they wish to meet her.**

 **Lotor smiled as he finished reading the post. Several days from now, all of the leeches will flock to her. However, Lotor planned** **to keep his distance, at least for the time being; let the girl become overwhelmed as the public all but throw themselves at her feet, hoping to earn her favor. Once things have calmed down enough for Katelyn to collect her thoughts, Lotor would weave his way in.**

 **The Avatar was certainly making things easy for him.**

* * *

 **"Are you sure about this, Katie?" Matt asked his sister as she finished tying back her long hair, unable to tame her curls and giving up.**

 **"As ready as I'll ever be," Pidge sighed, already dreading what was about to transpire. The plan was for Shiro to drop both her and her family off a few blocks away from City Hall, somewhere unsuspecting, the media at this point unaware of what car they would be rolling up in. Once out of the car, Shiro would hang back from the crowd, but close enough to aid their getaway should the Holt's need it.**

 **Matt knew his parents and Shiro wouldn't agree to this, but he switched Shiro's license plate with his parent's. In the event they were discovered, and the press tried to trace the car to back to Shiro's, the plate would only lead the paparazzi back to their own home. This was ridiculously illegal, but Matt could deal with any repercussions later. He would do anything to protect his sister.**

 **The drop off had gone without a hitch, Pidge's parents thanking Shiro profusely for helping them in their time of need, and for letting them stay with him indefinitely. Leaving might not be nearly as easy, but while all eyes were on her and her brother, her parents would sneak back home. The Holt's house was only a few blocks away from City Hall, and their parents promised to grab a few necessities, and secure both their Satomobiles for the ride back to Shiro's, which may end up becoming a car chase at this rate.**

 **Pidge's anxiety skyrocketed when they walked up to City Hall, as practically the entire population of her town crowded the small main road, many holding all sorts of fancy cameras and microphones, hoping to catch some big scoop and lead them to some easy cash. The fatal combination of her lack of social skills, hatred for crowds, and natural awkwardness soon making her feel impossibly claustrophobic.**

 **"You're so not going in there," Matt said resolutely, seeing the beginnings of a panic attack in his sister's face. He stepped in front of her view of the crowd, making to turn them around and head back to Shiro or her parents, they hadn't even been noticed yet, but Katie was having none of it.**

 **"I can't back out now that I'm already here!" Pidge protested, mentally preparing to throw herself to the wolves.**

 **"Yes, you can, and no one can blame you for it!" Matt whispered harshly back to her, not wanting to draw any sort of unwanted attention to themselves, and enjoying what would be their last few seconds of invisibility.**

 **"We'll never get the press of our backs if I don't take a little heat and give them something to chew on," Katie told her brother, before pulling off her beanie and sunglasses, revealing her face and freeing her ponytail, before approaching the masses. She had debated whether of not she should do some Bending to get their attention, but a shout from someone who was standing too close announced her instead.**

 **"The Avatar! Look everyone! The Avatar is here!"**

 **'How convenient,' Pidge rolled her eyes, before gulping, and plastering a fake smile to her face. She fought back the urge to create a pillar of Earth beneath the man's feet and send him flying, but Pidge decided instead to remain civil. On the steps of City Hall were several officials, all representing each of the four nations, as well as members of the White Lotus.**

 **The crowd closed in on her then, all wanting a piece of her, a new scoop to release. They shoved mics in her face, bombarding her with questions, somehow expecting answers without hardly giving her a chance to breathe. With Matt's help, the ocean of people parted just enough for Pidge to make it to the stage. The White Lotus encircled the siblings protectively, standing between them and the frantic crowd. The town's Mayor and other officials offered handshakes and greetings to Katie, only acknowledging her brother so not to be rude, each of them already trying to befriend her.**

 **It was as she was shaking the hand of a Fire Nation official that someone screamed a question Pidge knew she had to address.**

 **"Not all of us were in the Arena when you 'supposedly' Air Bended! How do we know that you're really the Avatar?"**

 **"Easy," Pidge yelled back, before providing a demonstration.**

 **Skillfully levitating a Satomobile-sized boulder from the garden adorning the front yard of City Hall, situated before a fountain and surrounded by flowers. Returning the rock to the ground with a deafening thud, Pidge turned her attention to the Water trickling in the fountain.**

 **Icicles lined the tiers of the fountain, and Pidge coaxed them into melting, before gathering the contents contents into a single massive sphere of liquid. After dividing the sphere into two, she willed them to circle the crowd, before slamming the two orbs together, effectively spraying the crowd in an icy mist.**

 **Deciding to warm them up a little, Pidge took a deep breath, widened her stance a little, before igniting a flame into the sky taller than City Hall, its embers raining harmlessly down upon the crowd.**

 **Fire was by far Pidge's least favorite Element, having burned herself badly after one of her first attempts failed miserably. At least with Air, she was far less likely to hurt anyone.**

 **She and Matt had been watching those Fire dancers on a live stream covering a local parade, and Pidge had been entranced by the snake-like movements of the rings of fire, the effortless grace of the performers as they moved. Pidge had attempted to imitate the performance in their backyard that evening.**

 **Matt had been the one to find her, and rushed her to the hospital, after a strong gust of wind blew Katie's flame down her back. The Water Tribe Healers at their hospital had been brilliant, but it had taken roughly forty minutes to get Katie to the hospital, telling the doctors she had fallen into a bonfire while grilling in their backyard. Matt still kicks himself for Katie's scaring. She took to wearing hoodies more often, regardless of the weather, not at all embarrassed or ashamed by the burns, but hating the hurt expressions on her family's faces whenever they looked at her skin.**

 **"Aaaaand that's all I've got," Pidge told the crowd, not bothering underwhelm them with a failed attempt at Air Bending. She told the crowd as much, a hand coming up to scratch at her bangs nervously, as she explained her complete lack of talent regarding the fourth element.**

 **The entire event was streamed live internationally, consisting of Pidge answering the questions she wished to, and ignoring the ones that she did not. She shook hands with the two dozen or so politicians that greeted her, accepting business cards here and there, deciding to stalk the figures with her family later.**

 **The White Lotus had approached her, offering the Avatar their protection, promising to find Katie the finest Bending instructors the world had to offer. Katie politely refused their protection, valuing her privacy, though she agreed to meet with any Bending instructors the organization wished to provide. The White Lotus didn't seem to like her rejection of the bodyguards they promised her, pleading with Katie to reconsider.**

 **"Think of your family," one member had told her, a withering old man who looked to be well into his 80s. "We can grant both you and your family every luxury you require. They will never have to work another day in their lives."**

 **Pidge hesitated then, the offer sounding too generous to be true, though she could sense the sincerity in the old man's words, his boney hand quivering where it rested loosely atop her shoulder. Katie looked warily back towards the crowd, hungry for her attention.**

 **"Things may calm down as time passes, but the media will never rest, never tire so long as one person has the gall to pick up a camera for selfish purposes," the old man warned her, his White Lotus robe draped over his skinny body. He sounded as weary as she already felt, as she regarded the paparazzi. "We can take you away from all of this, so that you can focus on strengthening your Bending, and deepen your connection to the Spirit Realm."**

 **"Sorry bro, but she said she's done," Matt told the elderly man, stepping in between him and Katie. It was when Pidge announced that she was leaving – after having been in the spotlight for nearly an hour – that things got even crazier. The crowd started shoving, everyone wanting a closer look at the Avatar, an inside scoop to publicly leak for the right price.**

 **But when someone had pulled roughly on Katie's hair, Matt wasted no time dropping the bastard, knocking the man out with a single punch.**

 **Lotor had watched it all play out from his tablet, having paid the man to grab at the Avatar to startle her, and coax the girl into doing something rash enough to inspire the crowd. He had not expected her brother to do the job for her, but the end result was the same.**

 **The world around them erupted in the flashed of cameras, the leeches drinking in the drama all too eagerly.**

 **"Matt, I'm gonna give us some cover!" Katie told him, before pulling a large amount of water from the fountain, splitting the water into two orb-like bodies just like before. She slammed the bodies together to create a mist, before willing the airborne molecules to thicken, blooming into a dense fog.**

 **The two siblings dropped to the ground, crawling between the legs of the confused press as they stealthily made their way out of the crowd, and into their parent's waiting car.**

 **"I didn't know you knew how to create a smoke screen!" Matt exclaimed as their father hit the gas, wanting to ditch town before the media could follow them.**

 **"That makes two of us," Katie panted, finding the sole fluffy green forest spirit that had accompanied her throughout the whole ordeal, having stowed away in her jacket, and petting it nervously, needing the contact of something alive and warm that wouldn't judge her.**

 **"We ran home and packed a few things," their mother informed the two, and it was then that Katie noticed the four bags piled in the backseat, including her galaxy backpack. She reached behind the seats to hoist her bag into her lap, unzipping it to reveal more clothes, pjs, and hygiene essentials, as well as her favorite stuffed animal from childhood: a limp, plush, green and yellow turtle duck.**

 **Holding the soft animal to her chest, Katie began to cry, wanting so badly to sleep in her own bed and to just…go home. But there was no way she'd be able to, unless they succeeded in popping in should they catch the media off guard, and return home unannounced.**

 **Matt hated that all he could do for his little sister was hold her. True she was an adult now, but as she sat in the car clinging to her stuffed animal and whimpering like a little kid, all Matt could see was his kid sister.**

 **"By the way," announced their father, wanting to improve the mood. "Son, that was a good swing."**

 **"Samuel Holt!" their mother had swatted at him from the passenger seat. "We do not encourage violence in this car-hold!" Colleen joked as well. "But you're right, Honey, Matthew that was a great swing."**

 **And then everyone was laughing.**

* * *

 **Lotor**

 **He had been streaming the event live from the large flat screen of his hotel room, having strategically peppered his Generals amongst the crowd at City Hall, instructing them to act should the media grow too heated, or a politician hit it off too well with the Avatar. Lotor watched as the girl had fled from the masses with the aid of her elder brother, Katelyn's movements too jerky and unsure with panic to be called true Water Bending.**

 **A thought struck him then, and Prince Lotor smiled, pulling out his tablet, and typing.**

 **'Axca,' he typed, 'Return to the hotel. I have a letter I would like you to deliver to the Avatar.'**

* * *

 **The Holt family had only just pulled into the cabin's driveway when they saw Shiro waiting for them on the porch, his expression worried.**

 **"Is something wrong?" Colleen asked, noting his demeanor as she made her way up the icy steps with her family. Shiro produced a letter in a purple envelope. Everyone eyed it suspiciously.**

 **Pidge groaned audibly.**

 **"So they finally found me," she sighed, already feeling a new wave of anxiety, a tenseness in her shoulders.**

 **"This letter arrived at my door five minutes before you did," Shiro informed them gravely. "The messenger was gone by the time I got to the door." He let that sink in. "There's no one I know who could accomplish something like that in the few seconds it took me to reach the door, not in forest as dense as this. We're likely dealing with a Bender."**

 **"What does it say?" Matt asked, eyeing the woods around them ominously as their parents ushered them inside.**

 **"I haven't opened it yet, but its addressed to Katie, so I can imagine what its about," Shiro guessed. He handed Pidge the letter.**

 **Knowing that any sort of hesitation would only further her anxiety, Pidge tore into the letter as everyone shrugged off their winter coats.**

 **"To Katelyn Holt, and to the family of the Avatar," Pidge began, reading aloud. Oh boy, here we go.**

 **"My sincerest condolences. As a prominent political figure myself, I know all too well of the leeches who call themselves the media. As a Bender myself, I can offer Miss Katelyn my elemental teachings in the realm of water, upon seeing her potential. I can also offer your family the peace of mind that I shall continue to keep the location of the Avatar and her loved ones a tight-lipped secret.**

 **The annual Republic City Ball is slated for the night of New Year's Eve. The purpose of the convention is to raise money for various charities. This year's theme will be a masquerade. Enclosed in this letter are five invitations, as well as the contact of a highly recommended tailor, should the Avatar and her family wish to attend. Simply present this letter to the shop keeper, and each of you shall be treated as royalty.**

 **I understand any suspicions concerning the anonymity of both myself, and this letter. I will not at all be insulted, nor inspired to retaliate should the Avatar and her family refrain from attending the event.**

 **As you have likely already surmised, I too will be attending this event. Even if luck is not on our side, and the two of us fail to meet face to face, I whole heartedly believe that the nature of the event as a masquerade ball is a positive opportunity for the Avatar. With your faces hidden, both the Avatar and her family can safely mingle with the crowd, politicians included. If Miss Katelyn cannot find an ally in me, then perhaps she might amongst the event's attendees.**

 **Avatar Katelyn, I hope this letter finds you well, and I shall be counting the days as the opportunity to formally introduce myself to your family, and to you, draws nearer. I pray to see you there."**

 **"…Woah," Matt said after a minute of heavy silence, as everyone took it all in. "Creeper Alert."**

* * *

 **Please Review ~Dreamers!**


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